First released in 1995, the Air Jordan 11 is the 9th signature shoe design by Tinker Hatfield. He wanted to pull out all of the stops using materials that had never been used on a sneaker before. By taking unorthodox materials, like patent leather and high end nylon, and combining that with design cues taken from sports cars, and even a lawnmower, Tinker developed what is arguably the greatest sneaker ever for Michael Jordan to wear in his first full season back from retirement. Actually Michael had worn the 11s in the previous season during the second round of the playoffs against the Orlando Magic. Tinker had shown MJ a prototype and Michael decided to go out and wear them to everyones surprise. Once again the NBA fined MJ $5000 per game because the Concord 11s he had been wearing didn’t match the color of shoe the rest of the team was wearing. So Nike quickly made the Space Jam version of the Air Jordan 11s for him to continue wearing during the playoffs, which they were knocked out of by the Orlando Magic. The next season, however, would be different.
The Chicago Bulls went on to win a NBA record 72 games that season. Michael led the Bulls to their 5th NBA championship against the Seattle Supersonics all while winning his 5th Finals MVP. During that season Michael broke out the predecessor to the upcoming “Legend Blue” release, the “Columbia” Air Jordan XI, during the 1996 NBA All-Star game held in San Antonio,TX where he won his 2nd All-Star MVP. The “Columbia” Air Jordan 11 was retroed in 2001 and hasn’t been retroed until this “Legend Blue” this year. Check out our video review below and let us know if you’re planning on getting a pair or at least trying to get a pair.
